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There’ll be no empty boxes or bottles going to the landfill from Colin Lippert’s household this Boxing Day – or from his workplace at Z Belfast in Christchurch.

Colin Lippert has just recycled his way into fame as Z’s 2013 National ‘Waste Warrior’ - inspiring and guiding his team at Z Belfast to recycle up to 89% of the monthly waste from their site.

In a three month challenge with competing Z service stations, the Z Belfast site averaged 85% of total waste sent to recycling.

That’s 4.75 tonnes of recycling over the 3 months of the competition – or the equivalent weight of about 4 family-sized cars.

Z Retail Sustainability Manager Gerri Ward said the massive waste reduction had required Colin and his team at Z Belfast to consistently separate food waste, general waste and recycling at their site.

“It’s no small feat and required total dedication and consistency. After being nominated by his operations manager to be Z Belfast’s Waste Warrior, Colin really took up the mantle, led by example and consistently motivated his fellow team members. His commitment even went as far as phoning his operations manager at 10:30pm to alert him to non-recyclables in the recycling bin!

“Colin was able to tap into his team’s established habits of recycling at home, thanks to Christchurch city’s excellent recycling programme, to motivate them to carry their recycling habits over to their workplace too.”

Gerri says the recycling programme hasn’t just been good for the environment, but for team morale too.

“They’ve found it a really positive thing to be doing. They’ve pulled together as a team to nail the challenge and are rightly proud of what they’re achieving. It’s a fantastic example of our Z heroes on the ground getting into action to enable us to achieve our national sustainability goals.”

Second place in Z’s inaugural national Waste Warriors challenge went to Graeme Mellow at Z Waiwhakaiho in New Plymouth, with an average 80% of waste going to recycling. Tala Simati at Z Greenlane in Auckland was a close third, with 75% of all waste from that site going to recycling.

“The passion and the energy that our people have brought to the recycling challenge have underscored what Z is all about,” Gerri says. “Our people feel proud that customers come to us for awesome service and great coffee, because we’re a Kiwi company, and because we have our Good in the Hood programme; with our commitment to sustainability embedded within that.”

On a national mission to cut the waste its service stations send to landfill by 70% by 2015, Z has installed recycling bins to separate retail waste at all of its sites, and is also rolling out forecourt recycling for its customers. Z now has recycling bins on 85 of its forecourts, with more planned.

“Since starting the recycling programme, so far we have saved at least a thousand tonnes of waste from going to landfill. This is a massive achievement, and only possible through the efforts and enthusiasm of our awesome site staff,” said Gerri.

Reducing waste is just one of Z’s sustainability initiatives at its retail outlets. It’s also installing LED lighting across the network, reducing water use by recycling water in its carwashes, and implementing energy efficient equipment in-store.

Editor’s Note

Z reckons recycling is especially important at this time of year, as New Zealanders prepare to dispose of the mountains of bottles, boxes and wrapping paper they’re inevitably left with on Boxing Day.

Z Retail Sustainability Manager Gerri Ward says New Zealanders can learn a lot from the success of Waste Warriors like Colin and the Z Belfast team.

Here are some waste-saving tips for every New Zealander to think about on Boxing Day:

Who remembers minding (or even being aware!) as a kid when your present was wrapped in re-used paper? The best way to reduce waste is to avoid it altogether! Wrap packages in gift bags that can be re-used several times.

Take a minute to separate all of the packaging you end up with before throwing it in the recycling bin – it’ll mean it does actually get recycled when it gets to the processing plant. Foil and polystyrene are particularly nasty environmental baddies – both in their production and disposal, so better to avoid having them there in the first place!

New Zealanders throw out a staggering 60kg per person of food waste a year. Get a bokashi bin or composting bin for the inevitable Christmas waste. You can also donate leftover food to organisations such as the City Mission in Christchurch, or Kaibosh in Wellington.

“Christmas and all its trappings can be both a special and stressful time for Kiwis – we can all take a second to think about the environmental impact of what we’re left with at the end of the day, and how we can do our bit to reduce it,” Gerri says.

While many New Zealanders tuck into their turkey and trimmings on Christmas Day, thousands will also be enjoying another traditional (but less conventional) Kiwi favourite – the steak and cheese pie.

Z Energy says it expects to serve up thousands of fresh pies to meet Christmas Day demand at service stations around New Zealand – after it experienced an almost 50 per cent increase on average daily pie sales last Christmas.

New Zealanders bought close to 13,000 pies from Z service stations on Christmas Day 2012. Z General Manager, Retail, Mark Forsyth expects that number to be higher this year, with Z’s pies becoming increasingly famous, and lots of Kiwis on the move on Christmas Day.

“Kiwis love a pie any day of the year and, despite the perception that we’re all eating turkey with cranberry sauce, Christmas Day’s obviously no different for a lot of pie-lovers,” Mark says.

“A lot of customers appreciate that while most cafes, restaurants and supermarkets are closed on Christmas Day, there’s still somewhere to get their pies and coffees, as well as last minute ‘forgets’ like milk, ice and bread. And of course we’ve got fuel for their vehicles too!”

Like many other ‘essential services’ staff, about 1000 Z site staff across New Zealand will work on Christmas Day.

“We reckon it’s important for everyone to spare a thought for the thousands of Kiwis working on Christmas Day – not least our own, famous-in-NZ, service station staff,” Mark says.

Z sells its fresh baked Goodtime pie range at 100 of its 213 service stations around New Zealand, with 13 different classic and gourmet flavours offered. So, what are the favourites? The classic mince & cheese, and steak & cheese of course… though gourmet flavours like butter chicken and bacon & egg are also a big hit.

While many New Zealanders tuck into their turkey and trimmings on Christmas Day, thousands will also be enjoying another traditional (but less conventional) Kiwi favourite – the steak and cheese pie.

Z Energy says it expects to serve up thousands of fresh pies to meet Christmas Day demand at service stations around New Zealand – after it experienced an almost 50 per cent increase on average daily pie sales last Christmas.

New Zealanders bought close to 13,000 pies from Z service stations on Christmas Day 2012. Z General Manager, Retail, Mark Forsyth expects that number to be higher this year, with Z’s pies becoming increasingly famous, and lots of Kiwis on the move on Christmas Day.

“Kiwis love a pie any day of the year and, despite the perception that we’re all eating turkey with cranberry sauce, Christmas Day’s obviously no different for a lot of pie-lovers,” Mark says.

“A lot of customers appreciate that while most cafes, restaurants and supermarkets are closed on Christmas Day, there’s still somewhere to get their pies and coffees, as well as last minute ‘forgets’ like milk, ice and bread. And of course we’ve got fuel for their vehicles too!”

Like many other ‘essential services’ staff, about 1000 Z site staff across New Zealand will work on Christmas Day.

“We reckon it’s important for everyone to spare a thought for the thousands of Kiwis working on Christmas Day – not least our own, famous-in-NZ, service station staff,” Mark says.

Z sells its fresh baked Goodtime pie range at 100 of its 213 service stations around New Zealand, with 13 different classic and gourmet flavours offered. So, what are the favourites? The classic mince & cheese, and steak & cheese of course… though gourmet flavours like butter chicken and bacon & egg are also a big hit.

Z Energy expects to deter would-be service station robbers with crystal clear, live footage of themselves on big screen TV in a nationwide high-tech rollout costing $8 million.

The $8 million investment could have bought up to three new service stations, but Z says it won’t skimp on staff and customer safety.

According to police figures, there have been 38 service stations robberies investigated across New Zealand this year, including five Z stations.

Z already has security cameras across all of its sites but it expects the new, state of the art CCTV systems to be a major deterrent for criminals – with about 13 digital, high definition cameras filming the forecourt, pumps, entrance and inside of each site and footage instantly displayed on big screens.

Mark Forsyth, General Manager Retail at Z, says the CCTV rollout is one of the biggest investments Z will make on its existing sites over the next couple of years.

“Clearly we don’t get the financial returns we would from spending $8 million on new service stations, but we don’t see it as one or the other. We’re continuing to invest in expanding our retail network and at the same time we’re absolutely committed to investing in the safety of our site teams and customers,” Mark said.

“Robberies don’t cost us a lot from a pure financial perspective because we keep virtually no cash on site, but every robbery is one too many when we consider the stress and potential physical or psychological harm to staff and customers.

“The big screen footage will be a highly visible deterrent and the quality of the footage is what you’d expect from a modern high definition TV. If anyone does try to rob a Z service station with this technology, their chances of going unrecognised when the image is released will be pretty close to zero.”

“An offender won’t be able to approach a site now without being picked up on at least one camera. Everyone entering the site will also see themselves on the big screen as a reminder that it’s a safe site. We reckon that sends a pretty powerful message to our staff, customers and any would-be criminals,” Mark Forsyth said.

The new CCTV technology also gives Z the capability to use licence plate recognition to help it stop petrol thefts through drive-offs, and it will be trialling the licence plate recognition in Auckland over the next few months.

The CCTV rollout is the third step in a triple-whammy for any would-be robbers setting their sights on Z service stations – with Z’s network recently installing maximum security intelligent safes that take in and instantly lock away cash like an automatic teller machine, together with trialling an invisible liquid DNA spray that enables robbers to be invisibly tagged as they leave the scene.

Z has begun installing the high-definition CCTV in all newly built and rebuilt service stations and the feedback from the site teams and customers has been very positive. This month it starts the $8 million rollout across its other existing sites.

ENDS

Z Energy expects to deter would-be service station robbers with crystal clear, live footage of themselves on big screen TV in a nationwide high-tech rollout costing $8 million.

The $8 million investment could have bought up to three new service stations, but Z says it won’t skimp on staff and customer safety.

According to police figures, there have been 38 service stations robberies investigated across New Zealand this year, including five Z stations.

Z already has security cameras across all of its sites but it expects the new, state of the art CCTV systems to be a major deterrent for criminals – with about 13 digital, high definition cameras filming the forecourt, pumps, entrance and inside of each site and footage instantly displayed on big screens.

Mark Forsyth, General Manager Retail at Z, says the CCTV rollout is one of the biggest investments Z will make on its existing sites over the next couple of years.

“Clearly we don’t get the financial returns we would from spending $8 million on new service stations, but we don’t see it as one or the other. We’re continuing to invest in expanding our retail network and at the same time we’re absolutely committed to investing in the safety of our site teams and customers,” Mark said.

“Robberies don’t cost us a lot from a pure financial perspective because we keep virtually no cash on site, but every robbery is one too many when we consider the stress and potential physical or psychological harm to staff and customers.

“The big screen footage will be a highly visible deterrent and the quality of the footage is what you’d expect from a modern high definition TV. If anyone does try to rob a Z service station with this technology, their chances of going unrecognised when the image is released will be pretty close to zero.”

“An offender won’t be able to approach a site now without being picked up on at least one camera. Everyone entering the site will also see themselves on the big screen as a reminder that it’s a safe site. We reckon that sends a pretty powerful message to our staff, customers and any would-be criminals,” Mark Forsyth said.

The new CCTV technology also gives Z the capability to use licence plate recognition to help it stop petrol thefts through drive-offs, and it will be trialling the licence plate recognition in Auckland over the next few months.

The CCTV rollout is the third step in a triple-whammy for any would-be robbers setting their sights on Z service stations – with Z’s network recently installing maximum security intelligent safes that take in and instantly lock away cash like an automatic teller machine, together with trialling an invisible liquid DNA spray that enables robbers to be invisibly tagged as they leave the scene.

Z has begun installing the high-definition CCTV in all newly built and rebuilt service stations and the feedback from the site teams and customers has been very positive. This month it starts the $8 million rollout across its other existing sites.

Z Energy is making it easier for drivers of SCR vehicles to get their diesel exhaust fluid, with Z’s Mount Wellington truck stop becoming its second public truck stop with Z DEC (Z Diesel Emission Cleaner) on pump from 23 December.

Z DEC is a diesel exhaust fluid that, in conjunction with Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology, is designed to help reduce vehicle emissions, namely nitrogen oxides. Many major engine manufacturers have chosen SCR technology for their vehicles to meet emission reduction targets.

Z’s General Manager Commercial, Lindis Jones, says Z aims to have a network of Z DEC at selected Z truck stops nationwide, making it more convenient for drivers to fill up on both their diesel and exhaust fluid with Z.

“It’s about making life on the road easier, and offering a product that more of our customers are looking for as they turn to cleaner emission vehicles.”

“We reckon customers will appreciate the convenience of having more locations where they can top up both their diesel and Z DEC at one stop, and being able to pay for both diesel and the Z DEC on the same fuel management card – their Z Card,” Lindis said.

Z DEC is already available at Z Sanson on State Highway 1, and from 23 December, will be available at Z Mount Wellington truck stop, Sylvia Park Road, Auckland.

“We are currently investigating other sites where we’ll have Z DEC available, providing national coverage for customers who are choosing SCR technology to reduce their vehicle emissions,” said Lindis.

Drivers can find their nearest Z truck stop with Z DEC at Z’s site locator at z.co.nz/find-us. More information on Z DEC can be found at z.co.nz/ZDEC.

Z Energy retailers across Canterbury have raised more than $4000 for Aviva Family Violence Services as part of Z's “Good In The Hood” community support programme.

The retailers have been fundraising with sales of 'Quakes and Ladders' - a family game that injects fun and humour into the earthquake recovery process.

Quakes & Ladders was released in December 2012 by Christchurch resident Siobhan Grimshaw after she and her husband endured six house moves and wearying battles with their insurer in the wake of the Canterbury quakes. Players throw dice to move their piece forward and go up ladders and down quakes, mimicking the emotional journey of home-owners in the real life game of earthquake recovery.

Generous support with production costs from several Christchurch businesses, including Fotocopy in Ferrymead, Office Max in Hornby and Blacks Fasteners in Sdenham, means that every cent of the purchase price of games bought at Z goes to Aviva.

Christchurch retailers are now selling the game at the special Christmas price of $15.

"We’re really grateful for this amazing support, especially as the need for our services is higher than ever” says Aviva Marketing Manager Julie McCloy. “Z stations selling Siobhan’s game for us is a really great example of people partnering up to maximize some good for their community – and the game is fun!”

Quakes and Ladders has also raised $2,750 to support voluntary projects for elderly people in Mt Pleasant, where the game was first launched.

If you'd like to be part of this positive post-quake community spirit you can purchase Quakes & Ladders at Z Energy retailers across Canterbury, Casual & Country Ferrymead and Mount Pleasant Farmers’ Market. Give a great gift that gives back this Christmas!

A brand new Z, complete with gourmet pies and espresso coffee made from 100% Arabica beans, could soon be opening in your neighbourhood.

In line with Z Energy’s commitment to delivering growth through capital investment and investing in New Zealand, Z is building five new service stations around the country over the next five months.

By April 2014, there will be three new Z service stations in Auckland (one in Epsom and two on the North Shore), one in Hamilton and one in Whangarei.

Z’s CEO, Mike Bennetts, said that two and a half years after the launch of the Z brand, Z’s monthly brand tracking has seen Z firmly establish its position as the most preferred retail fuel brand in the downstream transport fuels market.

“Our position as New Zealand’s preferred retail fuel brand gives us a strong base upon which to continue to build customer loyalty.”

“Our research shows that one of the main reasons someone doesn’t fill up at Z, despite saying it is their preferred retail fuel brand, is because there isn’t one conveniently located for them.”

“We want to be the most convenient, as well as the most preferred choice for fuel customers,” said Mike.

Mike said the refit of Z’s top 100 retail service station stores was completed in August, with refitted stores showing 12 per cent year on year growth in sales.

“These new sites are strategically placed to deliver growth in earnings through increased fuel volume and store sales.”

Z is also making decisions around the format and level of investment appropriate for the company’s remaining retail sites, with plans for several knock down and rebuilds of smaller service stations at strategic locations.

Z Energy today launched an online interactive driving tool, in an effort to help its customers cut their fuel bills.

The Z Energy Eco Driving Tool was launched at Auckland’s Sustainable City Showcase and is designed to help New Zealand drivers understand the potential benefits of eco-driving.

Gerri Ward, Retail Sustainability Manager at Z Energy, said that the launch is in line with the company’s commitment to help reduce their customers’ carbon intensity and fuel costs.

“It may seem counter-intuitive for a fuel retailer to help its customers use less fuel, but we reckon it shows how genuinely committed we are to the long-term future of New Zealand’s sustainability and to delivering value for our customers.

“By taking simple steps and making changes, drivers can save up to 40 cents per litre of fuel and reduce their carbon emissions.”

Z Energy today welcomed a decision by the High Court to strike out proceedings brought against it by Svitzer Salvage BV, arising out of the charter of the tanker ship Awanuia which was used in the recovery of oil from the stricken Rena in 2011.

Awanuia is a dedicated marine fuel tanker owned by Seafuels, and at the time of the Rena grounding was chartered by Z Energy to re-supply ships docked in Auckland harbour.

Z Energy agreed to release Awanuia from its normal charter, thereby enabling the vessel to be chartered by Svitzer Salvage from its owner, Seafuels. As a consequence, over the following two months Awanuia was able to be used to safely remove some 1,300 tonnes of marine fuel oil from Rena.

Despite the charter for the hire of Awanuia being between Seafuels and Svitzer Salvage, Z had found itself dragged into High Court proceedings brought by Svitzer which effectively sought to re-write the commercial terms of the contract between those two parties.

Z Energy General Counsel, Meredith Ussher, said Z was disappointed to have been named as a party to the litigation in the first place, and welcomed Justice Goddard’s ruling that the case alleged against it by Svitzer Salvage could not succeed.

“We were pleased to be able to release Awanuia from our charter so that its owner and the salvor could then deploy it to Tauranga to assist with the Rena disaster.

“We negotiated payment from Seafuels that covered the increased working costs we unavoidably incurred in making urgent alternative supply arrangements for our customers. Beyond that, the contractual terms between Svitzer Salvage and Seafuels were separately negotiated between those two parties, and Z quite rightly had no visibility of the charter rates or other arrangements being negotiated (and subsequently agreed to) by them.

“We at Z are proud of the way we contributed to the response to the Rena disaster, and were a part of the solution to one of the most serious problems caused by the ship’s grounding. We are also pleased to see an early end to the case brought against Z by Svitzer Salvage, which we believe always lacked substantive merit.”

Charities and community groups helping people in need within local neighbourhoods can now apply for funding from their local Z service station, via z.co.nz/GoodintheHood.

Following the success of last year’s Good in the Hood programme, Z Energy has announced that it will once again be giving away over $5,000 to neighbourhood groups and projects that matter the most to its customers. That’s over $1 million across New Zealand to do good in the hood.

Z’s team of passionate Retailers who are based around the country are looking forward to the opportunity to support organisations that make a difference in their local neighbourhoods.

Z Energy CEO, Mike Bennetts, said the programme is as community focused as possible.

“Last year we received millions of votes across the country that determined how we gave over $1 million to more than 600 groups. There was a wide variety of groups that we supported, but every group was focused on helping people in need and making a difference in their neighbourhood.

“The Good in the Hood programme came about because we wanted our service stations to be at the heart of their neighbourhoods, with local operations benefiting local people, so we are continuing this community approach.

The criteria that the group or project needs to fulfill to apply for ‘Good in the Hood’ includes:

being active in the local neighbourhood around a specific Z station

being focused around helping people who need it and

being for a specific project or to fulfill a specific need.

Z will be accepting applications over the month of October, with each of the 213 Z service stations then selecting four local neighbourhood groups or projects to support. These groups and projects will be announced on z.co.nz in February 2014.

Following that, every customer visiting a Z station for a period of time will be given an orange token and invited to physically vote for the organisation they wish to support. From that point, the votes will be tallied, the results will be announced and the cheques presented.

Each service station will have $5,000 to contribute through the Z Good in the Hood programme, with $4,000 through the on-site customer voting element and $1,000 for discretionary neighbourhood support over the year.

“We reckon that it’s only fair to support the people who support us, and we think that ‘Good in the Hood’ will continue to make a real difference in neighbourhoods across New Zealand.

It’s one way we’ve chosen to live our brand promise that Z really is for New Zealand,” said Mike.

Z Energy announced today that it has commenced work on installing external LED lighting on 171 forecourts throughout its service station network, which is forecast to achieve a 16% reduction of carbon emissions per annum from its retail operations.

The rolling out of LED canopy lighting across the network represents an 11.3% savings in total energy use for the company.

Z is investing $2.73 million in the project in this financial year with completion of the roll-out expected to be early 2014.

The project is being supported by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) who will work with Z to promote energy efficiency to their customers.

The rolling out of LED lighting on Z forecourts will deliver an annual 16.35% reduction in CO2 emissions across the Z network, and save more than 50% in lighting costs.

Mark Forsyth, General Manager Retail at Z Energy, said that this project is one of a number of things the company is pursuing to become a more sustainable business.

“Z’s sustainability strategy not only looks at doing the right thing for New Zealand, but also ensures the long term viability of the business. This is a three-pronged approach: Getting our own house in order, seeking to help our existing customers use fuel more efficiently and ultimately to find alternative sustainable energy sources.

“We have made a big financial commitment to this project, but see its value in not only the energy savings it will deliver, but as a demonstration of how making a financial investment in energy efficiency can deliver clear returns for business over time.

“Improved energy management can also deliver a number of other benefits for businesses; in this particular case the roll-out will deliver increased safety on the sites with better lighting, fewer outages, and reduced maintenance,” said Mark. The energy savings Z will make each year through this initiative equates to enough electricity to power 350 New Zealand homes.

“This agreement will help EECA promote energy efficiency to approximately 170,000 Z customers who visit over 200 service stations across the country every day. This will include the promotion of fuel efficient driving as well as energy saving activities in the home and business.”

“In addition, the lighting upgrade will demonstrate leadership to the business community, and show that energy efficient investments make good economic sense.”

Mark Forsyth said: “Together with EECA we can incentivise energy efficiency by showcasing a large-scale business undertaking with sustainability at its heart, and how it works from a sustainability, energy conservation, and bottom line perspective for better business,”

Z has contracted Philips New Zealand to supply and install the LED lights.

-ends-

Energy Facts:

• The lighting solution lasts up to 50,000 hours.

• Deliver a CO2 saving of up to 490 tonnes per year over 10 years

• Annual 16.35% reduction in CO2 emissions across the Z network.

• Savings of 50% in lighting energy costs.

• At least a 60% energy saving per energy fitting on a one-for-one replacement.

• Fittings automatically detect when there is no one the forecourt and reduces by 50%

• The 2,905,306 kWh of energy saved each year is enough to power 350 homes.